


Crackle

by Trefoil_9



Series: Undertale Flash Fictions [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Flash Fic, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 16:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11971503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trefoil_9/pseuds/Trefoil_9
Summary: Papyrus is slightly lonely now that Sans is working in Hotland but someone shows up to talk to him and he's.. a bit surprised? [AmberTale affiliated]





	Crackle

Papyrus was sitting up very straight in his sentry station. He wasn’t actually supposed to be on patrol for another half an hour but he always woke up early and he liked to be ready. Suppose a human had also decided to rise early this morning! Then what? Then he, the Great Papyrus, would be ready for them!

…It was a bit lonely out here. But not worse than the house. It was looking better than it had in… than it ever had, since Sans’ absence had given him a chance to get on top of all the cleaning, but it felt strangely antiseptic and clinical without the migrating couch cushions and the mystery socks appearing in places they should not be.   
He hoped Sans would be able to come back and visit soon. And not a quick visit either, there was almost no point in that. Well no, that wasn’t true, he’d be glad to see him regardless.

He wondered what Sans’ room at the lab looked like and shuddered immediately. Horrible, he was sure. He probably hadn’t even unpacked so much as turned all his boxes upside-down in the middle of the room and kicked the bedding into a corner. It was a pity Papyrus wasn’t there to take care of him.

Wait! What was that? There were footsteps, approaching, from the town!

Papyrus vaulted over the front of the sentry station and turned a cartwheel-somersault in the road, coming up faced towards the approaching noise. He landed with his feet planted far apart and struck a heroic pose.   
“GOOD MORNING!”   
He was answered by a kind of shrieking hellsound as Grillbz flinched backwards, a streak of fire half-appearing in the air near his hand and then fading. He huffed, recovered and kept walking forwards.   
“.there you are.”   
“OH HELLO MR. GRILLBY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?”   
“.asking you the same question.didn’t you get any sleep?”   
“OH YES! ADEQUATE SLEEPING IS IMPORTANT!”   
“..how much is adequate.”   
“A FEW HOURS AT LEAST! I’M PRETTY SURE I GOT THAT!”   
“…” Grillbz spat at the snowflakes landing in his flames. “.can we go inside?”   
“OH! YES OF COURSE! ARE YOU OK? DO YOU NEED AN UMBRELLA?”   
“.no.I.what.”   
“BECAUSE I HAVE AN UMBRELLA!” Shouted Papyrus, darting into his station and waving an umbrella out the front. “AND ALSO A PONCHO! SEVERAL PONCHOS, ACTUALLY! WE COULD COMPLETELY COVER YOU IN PONCHO MATERIAL, I HAVE DUCK TAPE!”   
“.no that’s alright.really.I can burn the snow off fine, I’m just feeling sleepy and don’t want to bother.” Grillbz ducked into the sentry station and glanced around. “.hm.these were a good idea.never really been in one.whose idea was it?”   
“CAPTAIN HUSK! WELL I MEAN HE WASN’T CAPTAIN YET BUT HE IS NOW! HE’S REALLY COOL ISN’T HE?”   
“.mh.I don’t know him.he sounds ‘cool’.”   
Grillbz settled down with his arms folded on the counter and yawned, then looked out into the thickening, but still gentle snowfall outside. Papyrus sat down on his stool.   
“.it’s beautiful.”   
“WHAT IS?”   
Grillbz gestured vaguely at the dark snowy woods ahead.   
“.existence.substance.dynamic physicality.”   
“…DO YOU MEAN THE SNOW? I SUPPOSE IT IS. IT’S BEING QUITE GENTLE TODAY. THAT’S NICE. ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T WANT A PONCHO?”   
“.I am certain that I do not want a poncho, but thank you for the offer.”   
“DON’T MENTION IT! I AM HERE TO ASSIST THE PEOPLE OF SNOWDIN! AND ALSO STOP HUMANS IN THEIR TRACKS WITH MY SKILLFULLY LAID TRAPS! ACTUALLY, I MAY NEED TO RELOCATE ONE TODAY. IT’S A VERY GOOD TRAP BUT DOGGO THINKS IT MAYBE SHOULDN’T BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ALL THE TIME, SINCE PEOPLE NEED TO WALK AND WE HAVEN’T SEEN A HUMAN IN A LONG TIME AND HE FELL IN A COUPLE DAYS AGO AND IT TOOK HIM FOREVER TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET OUT BECAUSE HE CAN’T SEE DETAILS VERY WELL.” Papyrus paused. “HE WAS… RATHER UPSET WITH ME.”   
Grillbz chuckled.   
“.it sounds like you made an excellent trap.but I suppose you’ll have to restrain yourself from using it until a worthy opponent appears.”   
“THANK YOU! IT IS QUITE AN EXCELLENT TRAP. I SHOULD SHOW IT TO YOU IF YOU HAVE TIME.”   
“.later maybe.”   
“OKAY!”   
The station was getting pleasantly warm, Papyrus realized. Usually he liked the bracing chill of the open air, it made him feel alive, but it was true that too much cold could make one’s bones ache if one didn’t move around enough, and this was nice too. Almost soporific.   
…there was a sound and he didn’t know what it was. A dry, low, sort of rumbling or purling sound. He looked curiously at Grillbz, who was gazing abstractedly into the woods.   
“.r.r.r.r.r.r.rr.r..r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.”   
It sounded like a tiny motor running, very muffled, or… something he’d heard before… that was it.   
“MR. GRILLBY?”   
there was at first no response, and looking at him Papyrus realized that his head was drooping forwards. The purring slowed, grated to a stop, and then Grillbz caught himself and sat up. He rubbed his face and stretched.   
“.pffft.sorry.almost put myself to sleep.”   
“WAS THAT PURRING? YOU WERE PURRING? LIKE A CAT MONSTER? WHAT WERE YOU DOING?”   
“.crackling.”  
“CRACKLING?”   
“.crackling. …call it purring if you like.”   
He stood.   
“.I should go open Grillby’z.keep warm, Papyrus.”   
“I WILL CERTAINLY DO SO! ER, WHY DID YOU COME OUT HERE, EXACTLY? I WAS VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU! I’M JUST CONFUSED.”   
“.I woke up early too.wanted to check on you.you were uncharacteristically quiet yesterday.”   
“WAS I? SOMETIMES IT IS GOOD TO BE QUIET!”   
“.true.” Grillbz patted his sweatered upper arm and left the station with another yawn. “.see you later, then, brave sentry.”  
“GOODBYE!”   
Papyrus leaned out the front of the sentry station and waved at him as he walked away. He waved over his shoulder and, from the hunch of his shoulders, yawned again. Then he shook a few droplets of melted snow out of his sleeves and formed a heat shield above his head.   
Papyrus sat back on his stool in the strangely warm sentry station and wondered which weaponized puzzle piece he should introduce Mr. Grillby to first. 


End file.
